Flamingo Baby!

An artists impression of our band! (in really poor light)
I'm the one with the triangular guitar. Lauras the one with the great ankle boots!

Books I'm Reading

I found this is some dodgy swap shop on Smith St, cost me $15 (well, cost my boyfriend $15, but he's forgotten) and its really fascinating. Its basically a really old fashioned travel guide, covering restaurants, community, public transport, entertainment, and local characters. I have always loved Cecil Beatons sketches and photography, and now I love this book. I'm about half way through so in a week or so I am happy to lend it out!

I'm also reading this:
Its sort of the modern Melbourne/Australia version of Portrait of New York. Also totally amazing.

The Boot of Glory

Here it is. The ankle boot of glory. In "suede", and now heavily waterproofed for the random flash floods we've experienced in the last 2 days, this is my ankle boot.

I'm wearing them now! With thick tights, black dress over stripy top. And to blow my own horn, I have really good hair today. The process was this- yesterday, wash, condition, slightly dry side part, plait into 2 plaits. Go to work, go to spin, go to bar, get drunk, go to bed. Wake up today with plaits STILL INTACT, tie them together to shower, pin back fringe and wear showercap (leopard print!) take off showercap, take out pins, and VOILA!! The perfect hair. Amazing. Its also really soft, so to continue yesterdays hair rant- DO NOT try to blowdry hair with conditioner in it. Your hair goes the texture and appearance of hay. And while 4 days later it will emerge soft and fluffy, its 4 days of hell. Plaiting to get a wavy-ness or leaving to dry naturally with conditioner in works a million percent better. Not sure how it goes with the straightener yet, that will be next weeks experiment.

The End of The Freeze!

Today we are celebrating the end of the Spending Freeze! So I will give a full report. (I am also trying to reconcile accounts at work so this could take a while). (I'm also quite hungover so if it sounds funny, just try to imagine how it would sound if I'd had 12 hours sleep and no gin).

Things I wanted to buy but didnt:

• Leather belt from Country Road- finally reduced down to $19.95- still havent bought it!
• Short shorts to wear to bed
• The Second Sex
• Moisturiser
• Tsubi jeans
• grey long sleeved top from Sportsgirl
• many CDs

This is by no means a definitive list. Now, Things I DID buy against all rules:

• A white thermal long sleeved top from Target (20% off- i actually needed this, and have been waiting for them to come on sale- so its not really that bad)
• Black satin Love Kylie knickers also from Target (also 20% off, and been wanting them for MONTHS, no kidding)
• Grey Payless boots- but in my defence, I didnt wear them until today. Ok, last night.
  

Thats it! And finally, Things I Have Learned:

• Most things out there are not worth your hard earned money
• You forget about most of them by the time you get home
• You don't actually NEED them, oddly enough, the stuff you already have is fine
  
• I didn't save ANY money, which I thought strange

From now on, I think, I will look at shopping with a different eye. I hold to the theory that I'm better off buying one GREAT thing than 30 cheap dodge things from Supre, AND that I already have enough cheapo crap, but I will start interpreting things into "Classic, buy, wear for ages" and "Fad, dont spend much money on so you can throw it out". Also, anything that doesnt fit perfectly, and I dont just mean too big or too small, but bad cuts, baggy bits/tight bits, bulges, wrong sleeves, too short tops, too stretchy pants are all a NO. If I'm gonna buy it, it needs to look damn fine.

Outfit of the Day

As I am having one of those crap what-should-I-wear-everything-looks-stupid-why-dont-I-own-something -that-always-looks-great days, my outfit deserves no such acclaim. But the other day I saw a little girl (and I'm not generally in favour of little people, so this is big) with a perfect black lego bob, wearing pink jeans, pink sparkly sneakers, and a leopard print fluffy zip up jacket. She was about 2 years old. Way cute. It made me instantly regret putting my pink skinny jeans on ebay, and want a bob. And then I went home and tried on my leopard print shrug. I think I'll wear it to my birthday.

And- a hair update. Going to grow it definitely now, after the Great Product Shakeup of a fortnight ago, where my stunningly stylish friend Vanessa told me that her new hairdresser has informed her that she needs no products, only CONDITIONER, to make her hair perfect. And her and I have very similar hair. So I'm giving away

• Kevin Murphy Leave In Conditioner
• Vidal Sassoon Bona Cure Split Ends cream
• John Frieda Brilliant Brunette gloop- looks like gel.

if anyones interested. Turns out that if you have masses of wavy or curly hair, just wash and condition as usual, wrap in towel, then when you're ready to style, just chuck a bucket of conditioner ( ANY conditioner) into it, and off you go! How easy is that! Revolutionary!!

Disclaimer- John Freida Brilliant Brunette Chestnut to Espresso does get a bit gluey so don't use too much. Terax Crema conditioner works magnificently. But costs $59.95.

So hair will now become long, long, long. Maybe next summer I'll chop it off into a messy, sprightly bob!! That will be fun.

Totally shameless....

If you're reading this you must be a friend of mine and therefore would know that my birthday is coming up in no less than 21 days, yeah??! So here is a shameless attempt to influence any present purchases you might make in the next three weeks- in list form.

1. "The Second Sex" by Simone De Beauvoir
2. "Street" by someone, on Amazon.com for like 17 bucks American!
3. Any Prince albums I don't already own (better see me for a more comprehensive list)
4. Flowerbomb, Victor and Rolf's perfume
5. A subscription to US Vogue
   

Thanks!! Stay tuned for some artists impressions of mine and Laura's band, "Flamingo Baby" starting their 2007 World Tour soon!

Downsizing

When should you stop selling your things on ebay? Do you wait til you've whittled down your wardrobe to JUST the things you wear every week, or hold on to stuff you only wear every now and then just in case?

I have run out of things to sell on ebay. Sort of. I could go on, obviously, selling things I still actually wear or would wear if I was going to, say, a relatives birthday or an awesome fancy dress party or a wedding, but the aim of my game was to make money off things I would have otherwise chucked out, so I have nearly come to the end. Question now is, how many times can you relist something before you accept that no one wants it?

Also, the spending freeze is starting the pall. Its not even that I want to buy anything in particular, I just want to buy SOMETHING. (is this an addiction?uh oh.) I keep seeing things like MAC makeup and cute shoes that would be PERFECT for work and thinking thoughts like "hmm now if I have a Glam Disco theme for my birthday I'll need a new dress- better start looking". I am missing shopping, I think. My birthday present list is growing slightly which is good, as I always get asked by 100 people what I would like, but this doesnt help the here and now.

I have to pay off my layby first. Then what next??!! How exciting. Heres my ultimate party dress:
I know I've raved about these dresses before. I would like it in black though, thanks, and praps a tiny bit longer in the hem. I have some huge high high wedges that I am DEFINITELY wearing, so just need something dancy, sparkly, completely flattering (of course) to go with. I think this Gucci dress sells in Melbourne for about $39000 so its a little out of my price range, but I think I will be scouring Shag and Retrostar for something similar- OR should I think of another theme? Any ideas? Something to go with shoes like these:
Something 60's could work I know, but someone else I know has stolen that theme for their 21st! The rudeness of youngsters today, I dont know. Something similar though, I think.

Update on Spending Freeze

Things Purchased (allowed): Stella Silk Ribbon Dress, Long V neck jumper and scarf. Target thermal long singlet in grey.

Things Purchased (not allowed): None!

Laybys: Cue one picked up (allowed). Lee High Rize Jeans at General Pants (also allowed!)

Things wanting to purchase: Long sleeved thermal tops in grey and white (for winter so no hurry), Simone de Beauvoirs "The Second Sex" to read.

Thats it! Of course I've been pretty much ignoring most shops, so the temptation isnt there, but also when I remember that I'm not buying ANYTHING, suddenly things just arent worth the money. I even went up and down Chapel St and realised I didnt want anything cos it was all sort of trashy, outdated, see-through junk for teenagers and wannabes.

Be Brave!

This is the welcome note on my mobile phone- "Choose a brave outfit!". Its to remind me not to freak out and wear jeans and a tshirt cos I cant conjure up some inspiration for anything else. I always WANT to wear something amazing and feel great but a lot of the time my wardrobe/courage lets me down. Except on Wednesday, when I wore my new Cue tunic dress with amazing tucked collar, with footless tights and patent leather shoes and felt fabulous all day.

But generally I just get frustrated in the morning rush and end up with something safe and easy. And then feel kinda boring, frumpy and invisible all day. This is cos some of the clothes I own that are fabulous belong to the "posh party" category and cant really be worn everyday. Others are just cheapo bits of junk that are best left under better items. I think what I really need is either to go for a "smarter" look each day rather than trying to be so casual, and wearing my nice clothes more often regardless of the occasion, or get my hands on some AMAZING casual stuff. Which is nearly impossible and not really something I want cos who wants to spend $80 on a see=through tshirt from sass and bide? Not me.

Anyway, this is how I would like to look each day.
Or this:
Totally, effortlessly cool. As my Spending Freeze is in full effect (one week so far and havent bought anything! Except Stella, but that was allowed.) I cant really do anything about this current wardrobe crisis, but by the time I can buy something I will hopefully have the funds to make it a pretty good purchase.

Love in Helsinki

I love looking at other ppls individual style and this blog about helsinki street style is guaranteed to get a few hits from me each week. Ok agreed some of the ppl are a little crazy with what they wear but it totally inspires me to get out there in exactly what i want to wear and not be shy about what other ppl might be thinking. I think there's an old fashion rule that you should always look in the mirror before you leave the house and take one thing off... but why take something off if it means you're playing it safe?

Outfit Of The Day

Me: grey skinny jeans, black tunic dress/top, black patent slingback flats, watch, 2 clear silver sparkly bangles, low ponytail.

Other: As this is the first entry for the segment of the blog, I'm gonna document my favourite all-time "outfit of the day" on a stranger. Man on tram: Armani sunglasses, aviator style, pink shirt, very well fitted, dark brown pants with tiny pink pinstripe, VERY dark brown shiny shoes, with great skin and perfect hair.

Spending Freeze

I have put myself on a spending freeze. Obviously this doesnt include the Target Stella stuff, of which I am definitely getting a coat and the big v neck jumper and possibly a dress/top/pants. Also it doesnt include the Perfect Jeans that I am searching for, which could possibly be hiding at Jeanswest (unlikely), Edge (eeek!) or General Pants (god help me). Or Tsubi's store in Armadale, but that will be an expensive endeavour.

What I really want in a pair of jeans is high waisted- I mean high, too, not some pathetic Sass and Bide mid-hip level, I want belly button coverage- skinny jeans. Any colour that isnt black, white, or that gross dark indigo blue denim. Do you think I can find some? Tsubi do the perfect pair but they are $260 and impossible to find in a size over 7. Next up is the Lee High Rize Supatube- which could be perfect if they are high enough. I have low supatubes which are perfect except they slide down everytime I bend over thus making them useless for any pursuit except standing still or lying flat on my back. Apparently Jeanswest have some but from the look of the website they are not high waisted at all.

But I digress! Spending Freeze! This also doesnt include my current layby which is the tuck-collar tunic at Cue. Totally gorgeous and perfect for work, whilst still being chic, funky and flattering. So I can pay that off, and get some jeans if I find them, but other than that I will buy NOTHING. Hopefully I will be able to keep this up for about 3 weeks. From now. Which takes me to..... looking at calendar......the end of March! Perfect!

Cant find any pics...got distracted while looking and ended up at Topshop website!! I wonder how easy it is to buy stuff and get it sent here....

Bang-bang!

I have been ignoring the blog lately cos I keep meaning to take photos of the new stuff I buy and then put them up here but I havent got round to it. Instead I've been entertaining myself with trying to see what bangs would look like on me. I'm growing my hair but getting bored and need some changes to keep me going.

So far I've decided to dye it a lovely rich, dark, shiny brown, and possibly get some kind of fringe cut before chopping the rest off. Not sure if the fringe would suit and also not sure that if I cut it short I will want a fringe but its keeping me going at the moment!

This picture is also keeping me going. If only I could make my hair so lovely as this I would feel no need to cut it, cut a fringe or dye it.

so many cute boys

My dream cartoon character and my dream movie stars (just kidding). If I had more energy I'd put a picture of Joachim Phoenix and Courtney Taylor-Taylor up there too. Sorry Nick.

5 bucks is better than taking it to the opshop

This is my new motto. Or slogan, if you will. At the moment I am scouring my house for things I dont use to sell on ebay. I've made over $100 in a week! This is great! All of a sudden things that were too "good" to throw out or cost too much to give away I can sell. And when you make 10 or 15 bucks off something its easy to send it away.